Comment: If Tottenham are a work in progress, Arsenal are there ...
IF THIS WAS the toughest test of Arsenal's title credentials, needing to win away in the white hot atmosphere of a north London derby, Mikel Arteta's men came through, albeit by the skin of their teeth rather than with flying colours.
What should have been a formality once Arsenal raced into three-goal lead before half-time became a nail-biting affair for their fans, as Spurs belatedly showed their teeth after the break, and set Arteta's nerves jangling, as Arteta admitted afterwards. “I was praying,” he said with a smile after his men held on, passing another test of character that was in contrast to their capitulation this time last year.
Arsenal, remember, went into April eight points clear of Manchester City, but won only three of their final nine games and ended up five points adrift of the champions.
This time they are still in front as we head into May, but the men from Manchester have a game in hand and Arsenal will probably need to win their remaining matches to stay in with a shout. This one was highlighted as a potential problem, given Tottenham's own ambitions of finishing in the Champions League places, and though the vistors went home with all three points, it was far from straightforward.
Much had been made before kickoff about Ange Postecoglou following in Arteta's footsteps in the way he is trying to revive a sleeping north London giant, but the way Arsenal took Tottenham apart in the first 45 minutes showed the size of his job.
Clinical in attack, solid in defence and with confidence restored after recent blips against Bayern Munich and Aston Villa, the Gunners did a job on Spurs in the most emphatic way. The half-time score of 3-0 might have suggested one-way traffic along the north end of Seven Sisters Road, but it was bizarrely back to front.
Tottenham had made the running, enjoyed the majority of possession, chances and attempts on goal, but their visitors were already out of sight. It is the mark of champions, making winning look easy even when it is not, and the frenzied atmosphere of a north London derby ensured that it was never going to be a walk in the park.
Even so Spurs did not help themselves. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was a surprise choice in midfield, and the fears of home fans was borne out when he headed into his own net after 15 minutes. One-nil to the Arsenal and they'd barely got out of first gear. Within eight minutes it looked like Micky Van de Ven had equalised, only for VAR Jarred Gillett to step in and deny his fellow Australian Postecoglou a goal. That put the pre-match conspiracy theories to bed.
Tottenham could have done with a hand from VAR five minutes later when a clumsy Trossard tackle on Kulusevski did not lead to a penalty, but instead led to a rapid counter-attack finished off by Bukayo Saka in some style. Two attacks, two goals, and it soon became three as Kai Havertz headed in a corner unmarked, in marked contrast to the way Arsenal's defenders were winning every high ball into their box.
Arsenal's Bukayo Saka celebrates.At half-time, some were looking through the history books to check on Arsenal's biggest win at Tottenham. In the end the margin was finer than most envisaged. “We had to dig in and suffer and react. We want to be better, there are margins for improvement, but we are right on it,” added Arteta.
Majestic as they are William Saliba and Gabriel still have to protect the erratic David Raya, who gave Spurs hope with another howler, chipping the ball to Cristian Romero 20 yards from goal and saying “help yourself”.
There is an element of chaos theory about Postecolglou's insistence on playing high risk, high reward football, while not yet having the players to do it as well as Arsenal or Manchester City, and few footballers are as chaotic as Richarlison. The Brazilian's introduction coincided with a more direct approach from Spurs, two goals and an ensuing increase in blood pressure among Arsenal supporters which was not helped when six minutes of added time was announced shortly after Son made it 3-2 from the penalty spot.
Raya was signed largely for his ability with his feet, and while his distribution was wayward, his handling was excellent, helping to hold back the Hotspur tide in what became a grandstand finish.
When the final whistle blew Arsenal were four points clear of City, albeit having played two more games at that point.
Their fans forgave them for giving them a fright in that frantic finale, because when the dust had settled, Arsenal had won at their biggest rivals' stadium for the second year running and showed why they are battling it out with City for this season's title. The big question now is can they get over the finish line.
City still have to visit Tottenham on May 14 and if the home side show the same flaws as in the first-half here, Pep Guardiola's men should canter to victory.
For Spurs to put a spoke in their wheels, and give themselves a chance of Champions League football, Postecoglou knows they need to follow the Arsenal way. “We need to be laser-focussed on getting from where we are to a team that contends, and credit to Arsenal, they are there now. They deal with the details (in games) well, and we don't.”
Asked about the details that need 'fixing', he responded “Mate there are thousands!” While Spurs are a work in progress, for Arsenal, a first title in 20 years is now in touching distance.
